1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasound endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a medical field, ultrasound endoscope apparatuses have been widely used. In an ultrasound endoscope, an ultrasound probe which performs transmission and reception of ultrasound is provided at a distal end portion of an elongated endoscope insertion portion. An ultrasound endoscope apparatus transmits ultrasound from an ultrasound probe thereof, and generates an ultrasound image of a subject from an ultrasound echo signal received from the subject and displays the ultrasound image.
A transducer unit having a transducing portion is disposed in an interior of the ultrasound probe provided at a distal end portion of an insertion portion of an ultrasound endoscope. The transducer unit is housed in a housing. Further, the transducer unit is provided in a shield case which is grounded in consideration of electrical safety, countermeasures against noise and the like for a subject, because the insertion portion is inserted into the subject.
When a distal end portion unit including the transducer unit is assembled, the transducer unit to which an elongated cable unit is connected is housed in a shield case first. Subsequently, the transducer unit to which the elongated cable unit is connected is housed into the housing in such a manner as to be forced into the housing, whereby the distal end portion unit of the ultrasound endoscope is assembled. As a result, the transducer unit housed in the shield case is housed in the housing at the distal end portion of the insertion portion.
Further, as a countermeasure against heat that is generated by ultrasound vibration in an ultrasound endoscope, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-240755 proposes and discloses the art of providing a highly thermal conductive layer at a distal end portion.